How to Win podcast with Peep Laja

Key Points: James explains how his trading background led him to founding Cognism (01:04) Cognism's first major pivot (02:25) My thoughts on early pivots with a quote from Eric Ries (03:39) James describes how Cognism's market size meant there was plenty of growth opportunity, despite competition (06:24) I explain the advantage of starting your business outside the hyper-competitive US market with...

Key Points: Sangram explains the problem he identified that inspired Terminus (01:00) How Sangram developed the FlipMyFunnel framework in Terminus' first year (02:31) My thoughts on community creation as a moat (04:37) I explain the benefits of developing your company around a clear point of view (07:19) Why Terminus defined their category as account base marketing, rather than the narrower niche...

Key Points: How HoneyBook got its start (00:58) Oz explains why he views competitors as incentive for improvement (02:27) Why HoneyBook is shifting strategies to invest in category creation (04:31) My thoughts on category and subcategory creation with a quote from Guillaume Cabane (06:08) I explain why choosing an ideal customer and being the best at catering to their specific needs is a winning s...

Key Points: Doug explains how Seismic's founders saw a market opening (00:55) How Seismic created a category and helped define a new word (02:43) How the founders played to their strengths and industry experience (04:37) My thoughts on founders playing to their strengths, and a quote from Unqork's Gary Hoberman (06:38) How Seismic achieved product-market fit (08:35) I explain why you need to be th...

Key Points: Jean-René explains how Kameleoon got its start (01:07) How Kameleoon got an advantage by establishing itself outside of the dominant North American market (02:40) My thoughts on finding market openings and targeting a specific set of customers (05:34) Why Kameleoon keeps its core strategy the same globally, which some localized differences (07:00) I explain the advantages of being more...

Key Points: Mark explains how CaptivateIQ's co-founders came from the problem (01:03) Mark explains why CaptivateIQ went through three distinct versions early in the company's life (06:25) My thoughts on why it is better to launch a product before it is ready, rather than be too late (07:00) Why CaptivateIQ had such early success with an outbound sales movement (08:17) I explain why you should inv...

Key Points: Tony describes the opportunity in the market he saw for a company like Oyster (01:05) My thoughts on speed as a competitive advantage with a quote from Hopin's Johnny Boufarhat (04:35) How Oyster managed to scale fast when met with massive demand (07:25) Tony describes Oyster's internal recruitment strategies (08:40) My thoughts on what makes a winning company culture, with a quote fro...

Key Points: How dbt got its start as a consulting service (01:04) Four key factors in a successful transition from consulting service to SaaS company (03:37) Tristan explains why the services team at dbt remains strategic (08:55) dbt's three main sales motions (10:00) How dbt's massive Slack community aids their growth (10:53) My thoughts on creating a successful community with a quote from Lemlis...

Key Points: Jason explains Klue's backstory (01:03) My thoughts finding an opening in the market and and creating a new "job to be done" (03:47) The three areas Jason focused on to get Klue to its first million (06:20) I discuss the importance of customer research (09:10) Jason explains how Klue educated the market about competitive enablement (10:05) My thoughts on creating new "must-haves" to es...

Key Points: Rytis explains the opening he saw in the market when starting Omnisend (01:13) My thoughts on the importance of speed when entering a category without established competition (03:38) The strategies that won Omnisend their first 100 000 customers (06:31) Rytis describes Omnisend’s profitable agency partner program (07:37) I discuss why partner programs can be difficult to pull off, and...

Key Points: Gary’s path to Unqork (01:13) Gary describes the competitive landscape of no code platforms (03:11) Why Gary and his team’s enterprise experience is such a big advantage (04:56) I discuss why going big is worthwhile when playing to win (07:41) Gary talks through the ups and downs of Unqork’s fundraising (09:33) I share my thoughts on handling early fundraising disappointment (12:06) I...

Key Points: How ScreenCloud came to be (01:11) Mark describes the early competitive landscape of digital signage (03:07) My opinion on how low-cost copycats could improve their messaging (04:33) I explain why becoming irrelevant is a bigger risk than making a mistake (07:10) ScreenCloud’s approach to content marketing (08:11) My thoughts on why evangelizing category over product in a new category...

Key Points: Dave explains why having a visible founder can set you apart (01:20) I explain why nepotism is not a thing of the past, and how to cultivate yours (02:50) Dave unpacks how founder story made a difference at Drift (03:22) My thoughts on brand storytelling, and why your story is your strategy (06:02) How Privy approached developing founder brand (07:44) How Ben Jabbawy used his podcast a...

Key Points:  How Appcues got their start (01:13) What to do when you realize you’re not that different from your competitors (03:06) Why Appcues found early success through content marketing (05:45) My thoughts on content marketing as a long-term play (07:15) How Appcues approaches competitor awareness (08:30) I explain why studying your competition is key to differentiating (09:38) Why Appcues is...

Key Points: The origins of Postscript (01:05) Why Postscript chose to build on top of Shopify’s platform (02:15) My thoughts on the advantages of attaching yourself to a growing ecosystem (03:34) Postscript’s initial, rapid growth (06:38) Alex’s thoughts on the SMS marketing channel opening up(08:45) I explain the law of double jeopardy, and how B2B buyers are satisficing (09:40) Why Postscript’s...

Key Points: How Verblio got their start (01:02) Steve explains who (and what) Verblio is competing against (04:35) How Verblio is attracting top talent (07:33) Steve talks about scaling while maintaining content quality (08:08) What Verblio is doing to build brand reputation (08:37) My thoughts on the importance of story-based marketing over fact-based marketing (09:06) Steve talks about the sales...

Key Points: How Gil pivoted from a marketing career to starting tech company Metadata (1:12) My thoughts on innovation as a transient advantage (04:19) How Metadata is competing on innovation (06:56) Why Gil made an early marketing investment in G2 Crowd (10:46) Why Metadata opted to tap into pre-existing demand for ABM software (12:41) How Gil and Metadata are differentiating by prioritizing tran...

Key Points: David talks about category creation and conversational marketing (01:05) I give my thoughts on category creation and category design, with a quote from Chris Lochhead (03:50) David talks about the downsides of category creation, and Drift's success was a bet (4:50) I give my thoughts on the pitfalls of category creation, with a clip from Gainsight CEO Nick Mehta (07:40) David discusses...

Key Points: Tapping into pre-existing demand (00:40) Listening to customer demands with Alina Vandenberghe - Co-Founder of Chili Piper (01:45) Moving away from feature-based differentiation with Guy Yalif, CEO of Intellimize (03:25) Niching down and focusing on a specific audience with Nathan Barry, founder and CEO of ConvertKit (06:00) Out-innovating the competition with Colin Nederkoorn, founder...

Key Points: Andrew talks about moats and how he identified network effects as a valuable growth tool (01:17) Andrew gives his thoughts on how collaborative use and networking have improved enterprise software across the board in the last decade (04:26) I give my thoughts on sustainable vs transient competitive advantages, with a clip from Rita McGrath (07:07) Andrew discusses how network effects c...

Key Points: Peter talks about how Databox has pivoted its business model to target a more sustainable market (00:56) Peter discusses how the company is targeting marketers, but open to find new SaaS revenue streams (02:36) I give my thoughts on Peter's strategy of not niching down (04:38) Peter gives his thoughts on trying to find the right mix of investment in search and content-based acquisition...

Key Points: Jonathan talks about how and why he founded KlientBoost (01:14) Jonathan discusses the company's original plan for growing by building their brand (02:43) Jonathan gives his thoughts on how they differentiate themselves from other agencies with their design, their many published case studies, and their consistency in everything they do (03:20) I give my thoughts on consistency and word...

Key Points: Gina talks about how Mighty Networks adapted when their early customers were enterprise, rather than the SMBs or creators they were trying to attract (01.20) I give my thoughts on adapting to changing opportunities, and growth mindset (03:01) Gina talks about how they transitioned to their ideal customer base over time (05:00) Gina discusses how Mighty Networks specifically avoided com...

Key Points: Guillaume talks about Lemlist's USP as email personalisation, rather than automation (00:54) I give my thoughts on feature-based differentiation as a way of breaking into a market (03.31) Guillaume talks about the company's exponential growth over the years (05:05) Guillaume talks about marketing, blogging and building communities on a lot of channels to build lead profiles and mental...

Key Points: Neha talks about how Contentstack grew from a gap in a stagnant market and embraced new technology clients needed (01:13) I give my thoughts on championing change, and encouraging clients to come with you (3:08) Neha talks about how they took a product-led approach, building features the established competition couldn't match (5:11) I give my thoughts on pulling together and improving...